Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Happy Ramadan!

“Strive hard against the unbelievers and the hypocrites and be unyielding to them; and their abode is hell, and evil is their destination.” –Quran 9:73

WASHINGTON, D.C., May 1, 1960: President Dwight D. Eisenhower announced Mayday greetings to communists around the world. The President stated: “On this sacred day for communists, Mamie and I want to extend our best wishes. For the world’s 1.5 billion communists I want them to know they play a significant part in shaping the world’s future, that May Day is a time for thoughtful reflection.”

WASHINGTON, D.C., July 8, 2013: President Barack Obama announced Happy Ramadan to the world, saying: “With the start of the sacred month of Ramadan, Michelle and I extend our best wishes to Muslim communities here in the United States and around the world. For the world’s 1.5 billion Muslims, Ramadan is a time for thoughtful reflection, fasting and devotion. It is also an opportunity for family and friends to come together and celebrate the principles that bind people of different faiths — a commitment to peace, justice, equality and compassion towards our fellow human beings. These bonds are far stronger than the differences that too often drive us apart.”

Obama concluded: “I wish Muslims across America and around the world a month blessed with the joys of family, peace and understanding. Ramadan Kareem.”

The President didn’t mention ritual rape, mass murder and the killing of infidels; you know; folks like us.

As for Ramadan Kareem, that sounds like the name of an NBA player who recently converted to Islam.

When I first read the President’s message, I didn’t have a clue what Kareem meant; but it bothered me that he did.

It also bothers me that Obama just doesn’t get it about Islam, or does he? He is displaying either a total ignorance about the War on Terror (here is a hint, Mr. President: Islam is involved) or, worse, he has sympathetic views toward Islam, its goals and the murderous means it will use to achieve them.

The dateline at the top is my ridiculous invention written for effect. The truth is that on May 1, 1960, Eisenhower gave his personal approval for Francis Gary Powers’ infamous U-2 flight across the Soviet Union. After Powers was shot down and with proof in hand, Nikita Khrushchev, the First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, was furious. He felt Ike was openly taunting the Soviet Union during the most important communist day of the year.

What did Obama do? He told Muslims of every ilk to enjoy this joyous holiday and ended up sounding like the pope on Easter.

Of course, Obama apologists will argue that 99 percent of Islamic believers hold no harm in their hearts against the United States. That number is not accurate, as I will show in a moment; but let’s be generous for the time being and say OK to the Obamaites.

Even if we go along with the 1 percent number, that means 1.5 million Muslims in the world want to see grievous harm done to the United States. I am sorry that so many American liberals don’t realize that they are on the same hit list.

For the President or any reasonable person to declare that somehow Islam is not at the epicenter of terrorism is to argue that Spain wasn’t involved in the Spanish Inquisition.

Are there elements in Islam that are parallel to Communism 50 years ago? You bet, argues Mark Steyn in his book America Alone: The End Of The World As We Know It.

According to Steyn, the goal of millions of Muslims across the world is the takeover of Western cultures; but our politicians are so politically correct that that they are either apologists or appeasers to Islam.

“Nobody wants to be unpleasant, or judgmental, do they? What was it they said in the Cold War? Better dead than Red. We’re not like that anymore. Better screwed than rude,” wrote Steyn adding:

… [T]he political class prostrates itself before an insatiable force that barely acknowledges the latest surrender before moving on to the next invented grievance. Indeed, a formal enemy is all but superfluous to requirements. Bomb us, and we agonize over the “root causes.” Decapitate us, and our politicians rush to the nearest mosque to declare that “Islam is a religion of peace.” Issue blood-curdling calls at Friday prayers to kill all the Jews and infidels, and we fret that it may cause a backlash against Muslims. Behead sodomites and mutilate female genitalia, and gay groups and feminist groups can’t wait to march alongside you…

One Poll Liberals Won’t Like

Obama supporters often pick and choose the polls that make their President look favorable. Here is a poll they can chew on, a WorldPublicOpinion.org poll from 2009:

24 percent of Palestinians approve of attacks on American civilians in the U.S., and 30 percent of Palestinians approve of attacks on U.S. civilians working in Islamic countries.

11 percent of Jordanians approve of attacks on American civilians in the U.S., and 15 percent of Jordanians approve of attacks on U.S. civilians working in Islamic countries.

9 percent of Pakistanis approve of attacks on American civilians in the U.S., and 12 percent of Pakistanis approve of attacks on U.S. civilians working in Islamic countries.

8 percent of Egyptians approve of attacks on American civilians in the U.S., and 7 percent of Egyptians approve of attacks on U.S. civilians working in Islamic countries.

8 percent of Turks approve of attacks on American civilians in the U.S., and 10 percent of Turks approve of attacks on U.S. civilians working in Islamic countries.

7 percent of Moroccans approve of attacks on American civilians in the U.S., and 7 percent of Moroccans approve of attacks on U.S. civilians working in Islamic countries.

5 percent of Indonesians approve of attacks on American civilians in the U.S., and 6 percent of Indonesians approve of attacks on U.S. civilians working in Islamic countries.

4 percent of Azerbaijanis approve of attacks on American civilians in the U.S., and 7 percent of Azerbaijanis approve of attacks on U.S. civilians working in Islamic countries.

I am pretty sure the numbers haven’t got better in the past four years. They are probably worse. That means there is zero truth to the 1 percent number that is so often bandied about by liberals.

Add up the numbers above; throw in places like Yemen, Chechnya and God knows where else; and we are talking about tens of millions, even hundreds of millions, of Muslims who approve of attacks against America. In total, I suspect a greater number of Islamists want to blow up the United States now than the number of Soviets who were in favor of doing it during the Cold War.

Muslims And Cowboys

This year, I took my wife out to the Calgary Stampede for her birthday along with our daughter and her boyfriend. Calgary is a city of 1 million people, and 1 million people go through the turnstiles each year to see what is called “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth.” It is mostly a giant state fair along with the best rodeo cowboys in the world competing for 10 days.

This year, parking was especially difficult in part because the city is getting over a horrific flood and because the city of Calgary erected a giant tent mosque so that Muslim cab drivers can pray during Ramadan. Forty percent of all taxi drivers in Calgary are Muslim. (No word as of yet if customers are left inside the cab with the meter running while their cabbie is inside on his knees facing Mecca.)

This might seem strange if you are from Birmingham, Ala., or Reno, Nev.; but it is what you would expect in Calgary, home to Baitun Nur mosque complex, a 48,000 square foot building erected by the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in Calgary. It is the largest mosque in North America. The good news is that if you visit Calgary, Baitun Nur’s website welcomes you to come in and pray.

Now imagine anything close to this happening in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Each year, that city hosts the Janadriyah National Culture and Heritage Festival at a huge “desert-encircled fairground” that attracts 600,000 visitors over two weeks.

You won’t find any Christian tents at that festival. In fact, you won’t find any Christian churches anywhere in Saudi Arabia. Justice Minister Mohammed al-Issa said in April that Saudi Arabia, “does not allow the establishment of non-Muslim places of worship.”

Is it just me or does this not look like a two-way friendship? I may be wrong, but I do not recall King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia ever wishing Christians a Merry Christmas. Yet President Barack seemed effusive in talking about Ramadan. That strikes me as odd.

I am hardly the only one. Brigitte Gabriel is a Christian who escaped Islamic terror in her homeland of Lebanon. She told The Daily Caller she is afraid she will lose her liberties twice in one lifetime because of the Obama Presidency.

“President Obama is transforming the country right before our own eyes. He is sending a message to our enemies that America is weak, America is a paper tiger,” Gabriel said. “He is apologizing for America at any opportunity he can, and that is unacceptable.”

Gabriel added: “I think that if America is that bad in his eyes maybe he needs to step aside and appoint somebody where we can have a commander in chief who is proud of the United States and everything the United States has done.”

I could not agree more. But, then again, what do we Christians know? Infidels like us don’t fast and pray during the Holy Month of Ramadan. I can only hope it stays that way for my children and my grandchildren.